The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. (Matthew 4:16). As earlier discussed in parts 1 & 2, just like a spectrum, there are diverse regions where men sit in the Spirit. These regions are categorized by light and darkness, and thus consist of three strata:
-The Dark Stratum- Children of the Night -The Grey Stratum- Children of Dawn/ Twilight -The Light Stratum- Children of the Day The aim of this article is to help readers locate where they are situated in the Spirit Spectrum and help them get to, and stay at a vantage point in the spectrum. The region of darkness, as discussed in the first part of this series has a 'flavour' of death, that is, Spiritual death- the kind which Adam and Eve died when they disobeyed God (Gen. 2: 17)... Every man is born into this region. How sad it is, to be faced with the reality that we all were born into this doom which is called the Dark Stratum. Nonetheless, here comes the good news: -"Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give LIGHT to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace". (Luke 1:78-79) -In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the LIGHT of men. AND THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS; AND THE DARKNESS COMPREHENDED IT NOT. (John 1:1-5) -Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the LIGHT of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have THE LIGHT OF LIFE. (John 8:12). Jesus, the dayspring from on high came on a 33½-year visit to mankind, as the light of the world, to redeem us from our sorry state by beaming His light on us. As if that was not enough, He released us also as lights, to shine in the world of darkness (Matthew 5:14, 16)... what a love story! The light stratum therefore, consists of the children of light- Men who have had a genuine encounter with the Dayspring from on high, Jesus Christ, and have allowed Him to beam His light on their hearts (2Corinthians 4: 6). The children of light can be further classified into three (3) categories: 1. The Converted (The Fruit bearers; those that are genuinely saved) 2. The Capacitated (The Gift bearers; those that are baptized in the Holy Ghost) 3. The Committed (The Torch bearers; those that are running the race of Divine Destiny) THE CONVERTED (a.k.a THE FRUIT BEARERS) "While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed..." (John 12: 36). "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the LIGHT of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have THE LIGHT OF LIFE" (John 8:12). 'The Converted' are not only believers, they are followers. They have not only recieved salvation by the grace of God, they are actively working out their salvation through conscious practice of holiness by the truth of God's word... these are the sets of people Jesus called 'disciples indeed' "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32) Here, we see the dynamics of Grace and Truth. It is Grace that saves your spirit when you BELIEVE, while Truth converts your soul, and makes you BEHAVE. If your believing in Christ doesn't propel you to behave right, you are in error! Let me mention quickly, that you are expected to pattern your behaviour to meet God's standard, as stated in the Bible, not societal nor contemporary-day standards. Romans 6:22 says, "but now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life". You can see two things here: 1. Being made free from sin. That is salvation. 2. Ye have your fruit unto holiness. That is conversion. Until you become a FRUIT BEARER, you are not yet converted. The saved man that is not converted is a son of the dawn, and belongs to the grey stratum; but when a man is converted, he is translated to the light stratum. We can get a better understanding of this by studying what Jesus was explaining to the disciples in Matthew 7 :13-29. Verse 20 is the central dogma of that sermon, Jesus said, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" By their fruits! Can you take some time to think about this?... By their fruits!... What fruits are you yielding? I encourage you to read Matthew 7: 13-29 to have a thorough understanding of this dogma- ONLY THE CONVERTED WILL MAKE HEAVEN! Matthew 18:3- "...Verily I say unto you, EXCEPT YE BE CONVERTED, and become as little children, YE SHALL NOT ENTER into the kingdom of heaven". It was Jesus himself that said this. What fruits then, are we expected to bear? Galatians 5:22-25: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Ephesians 5:8-11: "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. James had this to say in James 3:17-18: "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. As an aftetmath of genuine conversion, there will be a conscious and an intelligent avoidance of sin and a deliberate following of God's will and ways. The fruits that your life should begin to yield after genuine conversion are encapsulated in these three concepts: -Goodness -Righteousness -Truth These three are done for three basic purposes: -To prove what is acceptable to God. -To persistently avoid the unfruitful works of darkness (Sin and Evil). -To express absolute disapproval of Sinfulness. Anything different from the above stated concepts or done for any reason different from the above stated purposes is not genuine Conversion. At this juncture, it's important to clearly differentiate between these three clauses: -What is Sinful (What God frowns at) -What is Immoral (What the society frowns at) -What is illegal (What the Law frowns at) Take for example: -Rape is illegal. The law will not pardon anyone who forcefully has carnal knowledge of another. Even the society, and God abhor such. -Incest is immoral, and not necessarily illegal. The law cannot incriminate a man that sleeps with his adult daughter, if it was with her consent, but the society frowns at it, and it is an abomination to God. . -Fornication is always sinful, while in certain cases, it might neither be illegal nor immoral. The society will understand with a man that sleeps with his fiancée on consent and no legal action can be taken in the court of law against such a man, but God will not look kindly on such. Genuine conversion seeks to absolutely and persistently do away with anything that is sinful, whether it is legal or not and whether people will understand or not! Again, genuine conversion: -Proves what is acceptable to God. -Persistently avoids the unfruitful works of darkness (Sin and Evil). -Expresses absolute disapproval of Sinfulness. If you are yet to experience this genuine conversion, and you wish to have that experience today, and be translated into the kingdom of light, I want you to say this short prayer.